The Secret Butterfree Society
by RosesAndFaeriesAesthetic
Summary: Bug-type specialists were rare, aside from the occasional Bug Catcher. So when a certain purple-haired scientist and green-eyed, green-haired Elite get stuck together, let's just say future bug-type lovers better watch out, because there's a new (secret) group, and they're just getting started!
1. Chapter 1 - Bugsy

Bugsy.

When people say that name, what do most people envision? A small, petite, and feminine boy, with choppy, purple hair but into a bob in a green hiking outfit, complete with a net for catching pokemon? A smart researcher and strong gym leader? A good battler and better friend?

Probably.

What most people tend to overlook when it comes to the gym leader was his penchant for mysteries, secrets, and sometimes, trouble-making. The Ruins of Alph was probably the best example - he had already developed a machine that could translate the Unown language and explored the majority of the place already, along with making several observations of the strange, wild pokemon living there, but still allowed the scientists stationed at the Ruins run in circles and dead ends. Of course, it wasn't like anyone _knew_ about that. If someone saw him examining the walls a little _too_ closely, well, they'd chalk it up to Bugsy just being Bugsy.

After all, he was too sweet to do something so _troubling._

If only they knew.

* * *

It was a normal summer day when I came up with the idea.

I guess I should probably introduce myself first, huh? The name's Bugsy, resident Azalea Gym Leader and one of the world's leading scientists when it comes to bug-types! It's really nice to meet you!

Anyway, I had just come back from one of the seasonal Johto-Kanto Gym Leader meetings. Much like every other meeting, it went (predictably) the same way - start out fine and dandy until someone makes a rude comment about someone else's chosen type or favorite pokemon. Then, all hell breaks loose.

This time, it was Lt. Surge and Falkner. Now, here's something to remember - despite Falkner's short stature and young experience, he could get really angry. I remember listening to Morty joke about it once or twice when Falkner got into an argument with someone. "The reason he's so angry is because he's short, so he's closer to the Distortion World," he'd laugh. I asked him about my being short. He just said that the Distortion World didn't want me, I was too sweet. I laughed at that (but not to his face; I laughed privately).

Anyway, about this argument. So Falkner could get extremely angry and argumentative at times, and especially when someone insulted his birds - or claimed they could take them down with an electric-type. Lt. Surge? He, while tough and sometimes clever, loved talking about electric-types. So when he sees Falkner's Pigeotto, the crowned jewel of the Violet City Gym, he had laughed at that and said that he could "easily take that puny bird down with Raichu." Falkner and his Pidgeotto, both indignant and angry, challenged him to a battle. All hell broke loose, with arguments about nothing and everything breaking loose between people you never would have thought would have argued before. Personally, I found it hilarious, capable of accepting that even while in a shouting match between Erika of Celadon City that it wasn't my fault that she was low on plants (Scyther ate a few last time we visited).

Who knew _Blaine_ and _Pryce_ could be at each other's throats for _coughing too much?_ I sure as heck didn't.

Anyway, this is what I just got back from. I was tired and my throat was sore from yelling so much (after Erika, it was Misty and her distaste of my beautiful Scyther), so I do the thing I always do after things like this - I go hiking.

Hiking has always been a very calm and enlightening experience for me. I knew Ilex Forest like the back of my own hand, so I didn't have to worry about getting lost. Scyther was tough enough to destroy most of the pokemon and trainers that decided to interrupt my alone time, or I usually bonded with them already so they didn't disturb me. It was just a nice way to get away from anything irritating, and I always got great ideas while hiking.

This time was no different. Among the dappled ground and smooth green leaves on the elegant trees were hundreds of Metapod and Butterfree, it being the time of year where they evolved, and I had thought to myself, _why don't people appreciate the bug-type more?_ _I could count on my hand the amount of iconic bug-type specialists._ And that was true, I _could_ count on my one hand the amount of famous people who specialized in bugs - Aaron, of the Sinnoh Elite Four, and me.

It was at this time I had realized one, extremely important detail - I had never, ever actually met Aaron. Sure, I've heard of him before, but actually meet and talk to him? Never. And that just made me sad because the only two famous people who loved bug-types never actually met. That thought was the start of what I call, the Secret Butterfree Society.

The Secret Butterfree Society is still a work in progress, but the idea is to gather all the bug-type specialists and to form strong bonds between them. That way, the 'weakest' type can have the strongest bonds between trainers. That being said, it would be entirely secret because that would be both fun and allow us to collect stronger trainers while staying sparse and far between, allowing a more united face, since there would be less people as there would probably be a lot of trainers who would want to join if we went pubic. Plus, staying secret would mean that we could avoid any opposition if anyone would ever try.

In theory, it would be a good idea. In reality? Well, I don't know yet, but I might soon be able to test it out.

The latest Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia, decided to establish better relations with Kanto and Johto. Their idea meant having the leading Sinnohan figures, so their Elite Four and Champion, stay in one Gym Leader's home. Aaron, the bug-type Elite, and Lucian, the psychic-type Elite, were supposed to go to Johto with Bertha, the ground-type Elite and Flint, the fire-type Elite, going to Kanto. Rumors between leaders said that they would go to the Gym Leader's whose type matched or closely matched their own, so that meant I had a large chance of being stuck with Aaron.

I hope so. It meant starting Phase 1, and I loved Phase 1.


	2. Chapter 2 - Aaron

Aaron was probably one of the most famous Elite Fours out of the four (not counting the Champion, Cynthia. Cynthia was awesome), which he always found ironic. The user of one of the least popular types was one of the most idolized people in Sinnoh. He sometimes felt like he didn't deserve the fame, really.

Whenever he told Flint about this, he'd laugh loudly. "It's not hard to see why. You _rock_ cute and sexy at the same time. Fangirls love a guy that can do that." After a few more sentences, Aaron quickly left, cheeks a flaming red, whether from embarrassment or anger, he didn't know.

Bertha's reaction was a grin, eyes crinkling. "You have a big heart. People are attracted to people who wear their hearts on their sleeves, whether for negative or positive reasons is not my place to judge. Power and charisma can only get someone so far. A jovial and mature, yet still young soul is a very powerful personality. You, being a combination of all of those, it's a wonder how you haven't gotten even more popular."

Lucian would look at him through his sunglasses, purple eyes both interested and amused, a soft smile adorning his face. "I, myself, won't make assumptions of why, but if I had to guess, it's probably your happiness that attracts people to you. Your personality is extremely strong and enthusiasm rather infectious. The people around you are easily swayed, whether it be more happy when you are or slightly down when you're depressed. You're very open-minded and willing to change too, unlike us, which also means that people can relate easier to you."

It really didn't matter how wise or smart his fellow elites were. Aaron declared them all to be crazy, especially Flint. He didn't think he could look at Flint the same way anymore.

* * *

The first few hours of Exchange Day, also known as Let's-Slowly-Drive-Aaron-to-Insanity.

For the record, this was entirely Cynthia's fault. Not mine.

Hey! My name's Aaron, and I'm the first of the Sinnoh Elite Four and specialize in bug-type pokemon. And right now, I am going to go insane unless _something_ doesn't go wrong today.

Now don't get me wrong; I was actually excited for this day! Crossed off the numbers on my personalized calendar, kept packing and repacking my bags, wondering what I'd need, wondering what my host would be like... the works, y'know? The idea of getting to actually talk to people other than my fellow Elites and the Sinnoh Gym Leaders was definitely refreshing, to say the least, and we had the added bonus of being able to take an undetermined time off! It was like holiday come early.

Now, there were also a few people I was hoping to avoid, such as Falkner of Violet City. He felt a bit... _intense,_ maybe a bit too much for me. Also, there was the fact that his strongest pokemon could probably deal a hefty hit to my weakest, considering their type advantage (if they could even hit me - bug types are extremely evasive creatures, especially in their fully evolved forms, and really fast too, with probably the largest range of status effects or stat boosting/lowering moves. If my Bug Bite won't take you out, my String Shot-Poison Powder-Bug Buzz combination _will_ ). However, the chance of them knocking me out would probably be hilariously low - I wasn't an Elite Four for nothing!

So, what does Cynthia promptly do? Not tell us who we were going to be living with for an undetermined and probably long time, other than their region! Now, I wasn't the only one nervous about the change of pace - I could tell Lucian was _terrified_ of the idea of being in the same room with Morty of Ecruteak for over a few hours, much less living with him, and despite Bertha's genial smile that felt permanently plastered onto her face, her shoulders tensed a little at that and I knew that she really despised Lt. Surge and his brash, harsh personality. Flint was probably the most vocal about his discomfort with that 'surprise,' being that a lot of the Kanto Gym Leaders hated him and could barely tolerate him, the only one being Blaine of Cinnabar Island. Everyone else either had short tempers that Flint just burned, like his fire pokemon, or generally found him annoying. Blaine was the only one that actually answered his ever-so-inquisitive questions, no matter how strange, and Flint liked his catchphrase "You better have a Burn Heal!"

I think, just by being an old man yet earning Flint's respect and standing him, even for only a couple of hours, Blaine just earned my respect

(I never actually met him face-to-face though; we _did_ have a conference with the sixteen Kanto-Johto gym leaders for a few hours to 'bond', although I spent the entire time outside or hiding from Erika after accidentally eating her plants. How was I supposed to know she cultivated the flowers planted next to the League Building? It doesn't exactly have a _sign_ on it.)

Afterwards, even though e _knew_ how much I despised planes and how they scared the common sense out of me, decided that the Elite Four would take a plane to our locations. which sucked because:

1: Planes petrified me. Going close to a plane had me stopping in my tracks and shivering like a leaf.

2: I hyperventilated a lot on planes, especially with turbulence. Even if planes are the safest way to travel, there are plenty of ways you could die on a plane.

3: Even though I traveled a lot, I had really bad motion sickness. Unless I felt like swallowing really bad tasting pills or remembered to swallow said bad tasting pills, I would throw up at least once on the flight.

4: Lucian would be the only one on the plane with me, and we had separate seats away from each. He might not be good at comforting people, but having someone close to me usually helped somewhat.

5: Being on a plane meant that you were stuck in a cramped, public vehicle, so you couldn't have your pokemon out. That meant chasing after my pokemon for probably a really long time afterwards.

However, Champion's orders! Which meant being stuck in plane hugging my knees to my chest and muttering useless bug type information that my poor neighbors were stuck listening to and watching one of their strongest trainers have a near panic attack for about 15 hours until he passes out or falls asleep because he can't stand being in a plane. Not exactly great for the soul or for the sense of security.

After the fact, (I threw up twice, by the way. _T_ _wice_. And I even took the medicine!) I accidentally took the wrong bag. I normally have my own personalized suitcase with cute stickers of whatever bug pokemon catches my fancy in whatever region I go to, but this time, I decided not to take it. It was small, and I could be staying away from the League for a while, so I definitely wouldn't be able to fit all of my necessities in it. Also, I spent a lot of time worrying whether the person I was staying with would _appreciate_ the bag. I mean, if I was stuck with someone would hated bug pokemon, having the bag with me wouldn't be the greatest idea. Or what if I was with a serious person? They probably wouldn't like the silly stickers and might not appreciate them at all! So for diplomacy's sake, I got a dark green bag, dappled with lighter shades and darker shades in just the right pattern so it looked like the shadows of a forest.

When the plane landed, I had just woke up from a nap. Apparently hyperventilating took a lot out of you and, despite it being around eight in the morning in Johto, which is usually my regular waking time, it would be around four in the morning in Sinnoh, which is a time when I would be asleep. Jet lag usually hit me hard, even if it was only a few hours, so I left the plane feeling extremely drowsy, like coming back from attending one of Flint's midnight move marathons. Therefore, confusing a more saturated army bag with mine and misreading the strangely similar bar code on the tag was pretty easy, considering that I was looking for a deep purple sash on the handle with silver linings, which this guy apparently had too, so I didn't read the bar code very meticulously.

It was a miracle I didn't leave the airport with the bag. Thankfully, Lucian noticed the difference, being more awake due to being used to pulling all-nighters reading and sleeping in the afternoons. He pointed it out to me pretty quickly, which sent me into a panic (and successfully woke me up). So I rolled the bag to a random employee and told her what happened, who nodded understandingly (at that time, I thought she was judging me) and reassured me that I would get my bag back. Thankfully, we were promised that it would get to the other person anonymously and I would eventually got my bag back too, which would take hours of waiting.

Huzzah. Arceus _strike me dead_.

* * *

I felt really bad for whatever poor Gym Leader that was waiting for me. Lucian had left a couple of hours ago, understandably bored and wanting to meet whomever he was living with. "Exit Six, Floor Two... I'm _on_ Floor Two... Exit Six... Where's Exit Six?" I muttered, dashing through the airplane while dragging my bag behind me, Beautifly muttering angrily behind me. "I'm sorry Beautifly, but I really have to find Exit S- aha! Found it!"

While grinning victoriously at Beautifly, a strong wave of guilt hit me straight in the face. _What if they hate me? What if they left without me? What if I messed up all my chances at diplomacy and Sinnoh and Kanto-Johto go to war again and it's entirely my fault and Cynthia would hate me and I'd get kicked out of the Elite Four and be stuck with my stuck-up father that all but hates me and I'd have to run away again but I'm technically a minor even though I'm seventeen and oh god I'd be the entire reason lives were lost I think it's time I changed my name to Ryou and dyed my hair and bought contacts and moved to Alola and-_

These thoughts whirled around in my head as I paced around Exit Six, not noticing that I accidentally ran into a moving blob of green and purple. I yelped, bruising my chin pretty bad as the other person clutched their forehead. "S-Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" They said, apologizing profusely.

I shrugged, thankful I had ended that train of thought, even if it was with a painful impact. "I-It's fine. I wasn't looking at where I was going either, to be f-fair."

"Okay, coo- wait a sec! Are you Aaron of the Sinnoh Elite Four?" The person in front of me asked, looking delighted by the fact.

At first I groaned. _Another fan. I really don't feel like dealing with fans right now,_ until I actually took in the other's appearance. Choppy purple hair cut in a feminine style... green hiking outfit... bug-catching net... "You're... Azalea Gym Leader Bugsy! Oh thank Arceus I found you!" I gasped. "And yeah, I'm Aaron."

"Sorry to keep you waiting! You'll be staying with me, by the way, but I'm just really sorry for being late. I forgot to set my alarm clock and I stayed up late last night and I really should have checked the date the day before or at least have written it on a more pro-" Bugsy apologized, yet again.

I held up a hand to stop them, confused. "Waiting? If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I probably kept you waiting for hours! It's... what?" I glanced at the Poketch on my wrist. "Ten? I should have been here at eight!"

"Huh? Did your flight go off-track?" They questioned.

"I..." I said at first, before stopping. "Uh... Yeah. Let's just go with that."

I guess I'm not going insane today.

* * *

Bugsy was a cool dude. Despite seeming short and sweet, I quickly learned not to get on his bad side.

"Wait, so you _what?_ " I asked, enraptured in the story he was telling me.

"Yup! The main scientist in the Ruins of Alph? Kept calling me a girl and short and insulting my masculinity. Whenever I told him I was a guy, pointed out my more, ahem, _feminine_ traits and kept calling me a girl. I think he has something against transgender people or something because even though I'm biologically male and just look feminine he kept calling me female, but that caught on so his assistant started calling me a girl. So I withheld information from them concerning the Unown. If he thinks a girl shouldn't be investigating the Ruins, then she won't! At least, with no evidence saying she did." Bugsy grinned, puffing out his chest. "It's what he gets for being a sexist and stubborn cactus."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Cactus?"

"What's on a cactus?"

"Pri- oh. Oh! So... Cactus means 'prick'?" I asked, grinning.

"Yep! I like insulting people."

"So I've seen."

"Yes." Bugsy nodded sagely. "Insults are a fine way to pass time in this lonely world."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed," He shot me a Gengar-like grin before breaking down in laughter. I joined in, doubling over and snickering.

"You make a _horrible_ sage impression!" I gasped between peals of uncontrollable laughter, feeling slightly childish. Another thing about Bugsy - he was good at judging people and was also really infectious. He could probably make Lucian lose his cold and aloof mask he always seems to wear just by breaking down, laughing, in front of him.

The purple-haired Gym Leader grinned yet again, flashing a thumbs up sign at me. "I know." I grinned back at him, throwing a wink in there, until he suddenly stopped smiling and stared extremely seriously at me, giving me figurative whiplash. Bugsy had a tendency to get strange mood-swings at times, although I've never seen one so abrupt before. "Listen, can I talk to you about something?"

I nodded, serious. "'Bout what?"

He breathed in, closing his silvery purple irises. "So you know how we're pretty much the only famous bug-type users? How nobody really uses bugs?"

"Yeah. How can I forget when I pretty much tell myself that everyday?" I asked rhetorically. The air around me felt heavy.

"Well... Before you got here, I was thinking: What if we could gather all the iconic bug-type users into one, big, secret group?" He asked, opening up his eyes, his bombshell dropped. "We could call it the Secret Butterfree Society!" His eyes sparkled excitedly in the light.

I blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. "That's... Bugsy, this is an amazing idea! Although... why do we have to remain secret?"

"Secrecy is a must. First of all, a lot of people don't like bugs, and there are trainers that hate bug-types enough to hate on their trainer. Others find them weak and think important trainers that are better than them that use bug-types are phonies or just as weak. Sometimes, I'm not even thought of as an 'important Gym Leader' even though you still have to get through me to fight the Indigo Plateau." He looked down, looking hurt at that fact.

"It's kind of the same thing with me actually. I've heard the words 'Pity Elite' and 'Weakest Elite four Member' or variations more times more times than I have the patience to count." I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tight. "But if they can't recognize it, then they're really cheating themselves out, considering how many times I've sent a challenger armed with fire types off." I let go.

"Thanks, Aaron. Anyway, as I was saying, they'd probably just look down on a society like this one. Also, the goal is also to form strong bonds between the different bug users, so having a big group would be sort of like school - your cliques and outcasts. Having a smaller group would be helpful as we could form stronger bonds between less people, but we still lead the bug-type users in general because we're the most well-known users of them, you know?" He smiled a bit before continuing. "Also, it's funner that way!"

I chuckled. "Well, those are pretty solid reasons." A grin formed on my face, mischief in the making. "You know, I've heard that in the Unova region, there's this famous artist/Gym Leader that's pretty good with bugs. How about we show him the ropes?"

A similar grin flitted across the smaller's face. "Sounds like a plan. What do you have in mind, Mr. Prankster?"

And thus continued Phase 1.


End file.
